back from the longest walk

spadoman has returned from the longest walk as he has a bad case of bronchitis, but he is on the mend and posted over at his place today. he will be sharing some of his experiences along but i jumped the gun and decided to post his latest here today. welcome back my friend! betmo

I’ll start at the beginning. The trip itself is over for now. I am home. I had to come home. I got sick with bronchitis and wasn’t having any luck healing while working and on the road. I guess that’s the end, not the beginning, but when I left Ashland on January 27th, I didn’t have any idea of what was about to happen on The Longest Walk.

The trip itself had a few segments. When I left I traveled South towards New Mexico and Arizona across the midsection of America. I pulled into Flagstaff Arizona a day after a 17 inch snowfall. I went a little further South to Sedona where I stopped in at my brother’s place. My brother and his wife were gone on a cruise. My sister was staying with my Mother at my brother’s place. I stayed a few days and visited with Mom.

On February 4th, a Sunday, I took off and headed West. I was going to veer to the Northwest and Tahatchapi pass, but weather had moved in and the reports said that the pass was closed due to snow. I went straight West into the Northern edge of Los Angeles and took The Grapevine North on I-5.

I thought it strange that there was no traffic going South and there was no cars or other traffic behind me. I was the last car headed North. they had closed the pass behind me. I passed a long line of semi trucks that were slowly creeping across the San Gabriel Mountains and pulled into a rest area for a snooze.

When I woke up, it was daybreak and a bright sun was shining down on the Central valley. I cranked up the old van and headed up the freeway for points North, namely Eureka and a visit to one of my oldest and bestest of friends. I called Hal and found him home and excited about the prospect of a visit for a few days. I stayed in Humboldt County for three days before I went to meet The Longest Walk in San Francisco.

In San Francisco, I checked into a motel and waited for another good friend from St. Paul to arrive. I picked up Steve at the airport and we went back to the motel after a burger at Mel’s diner on Lombard Street. The next morning we drank coffee at the Chestnut Street Roastery and talked with the old guys from the neighborhood. Later in the day, we met up with a couple of other Minnesota friends that traveled out West to participate in the Longest Walk’s kickoff festivities. The four of us hung out and ate, drank coffee and went to concerts and events that were scheduled to get ready for the walk.

On Monday, February 11th, we took an early ferry to Alcatraz and witnessed a beautiful sunrise ceremony. When we returned to the mainland, we drove to Davis, CA and settled in for the night. The next day was the first day of actual walking and I did the first two miles, bad sciatic and all. We went back to San Francisco to take one of our friends back and had dinner at an Italian joint in Millbrae. Italian was apropos as the earlier selections were Thai and Chinese respectively right after the fish, crab and pasta at Fisherman’s Wharf. I sure didn’t start off the trip sticking to my mantra about changing eating habits and getting the diabetes under control. But the next couple of months proved to be a challenge where I came out triumphant.

The Walk began in earnest traveling South through the Central Valley of California. From Davis, through Sacramento and along side roads and frontage roads that ran parallel to US Hwy 99. Manteca, Madera Chowchilla, Merced, Fresno and on through Delano and Bakersfield.

Each day, the 75 or so walkers packed up their back packs and piled them up near the trailer I was pulling with my trusty old Ford van. They walked from 15 to 20 miles a day. With some help from some of the walkers that stayed back to help with chores, we loaded the trailer with the packs and convoyed the support vehicles to the next camping spot and unloaded the packs. When the walkers arrived, their camping gear was there waiting and camp was set up.

The convoy of vehicles consisted of my van and aforementioned trailer, an old school bus converted to camper and field kitchen, another smaller van pulling a smaller trailer and took the overflow of camping gear, mostly the sleeping bags and tents. there was another pick up truck that pulled yet another trailer. This one was loaded with water and overflow of the kitchen equipment. Another couple of cars and there we had it. The base camp for the Longest Walk.

On some days, the distance from one stop to another was too far to walk. The walkers made the 15 to 20 miles with no problem. Those with bad knees, sore muscles and blisters stayed back to help with the loading and unloading of the gear. Spirit runners were used to cover more miles. A group of runners would all drive in a car and one would be dropped off every 5-10 miles. They’d run the distance and the car would come back and pick them up, leap frogging and covering 60 or 80 or even one day, over 100 miles, running. All the distances were covered by a human footprint of either the walkers or a spirit runner.

Our hosts were varied and numerous. American Legion halls, churches, temples, fairgrounds, casinos and even large private property ranches. Some stops were sponsored by Native Indigenous people, some were not. Some places fed us, and at others, meals were prepared right out of our own kitchen. The days started early, sometimes at 3:30 a.m., and meal time and clean up didn’t get finished until 7 or 8 p.m. Long days, short nights. All the planning for the next day had to be done before we got up in the morning, then repeat the procedure. We did take about one day per week to rest. On this rest day, I was busy driving walkers to the town nearby for laundry, post office, the grocery or other store to resupply their snack chest or replace camera batteries.

The walkers picked up trash along the side of the road as they walked. The bags of garbage were hauled to the end of the day in a support vehicle that followed the walkers on the shoulder. This spirit of keeping Mother Earth clean was not just while walking. Everything was recycled everyday. Water bottles and other recyclables were separated, compost buried and paper and cardboard sorted and taken care of.

Everyone ate out of their own plate and used their own utensils. When our generous hosts fed us, we’d ask them to not use styrofoam and set that example to them. We asked that water that was being donated be in larger containers. We’d fill our Nalgene water bottles instead of generating plastic water bottle waste. We recycled plastic as we went as well.

The message was given to people via small paper handouts that told a brief story of why the Longest Walk was taking place. We walked for Peace and Justice. We walked to call attention to the disease and suffering of people from the land being taken and poisons being left in the soil. We walked to save the Sacred sites and we walked to call attention to how we treat the Mother earth. You just can’t imagine how much trash is left at the side of the road even in the most remote desert. Trash everywhere. Car parts, clothing, tools, pieces of this and that and plastic, plastic plastic.

This is a brief synopsis of how it worked, the logistics of getting down the road, mile by mile. I fell into the mission right away with my experience moving a motion picture production company. This was similar, except without the large paychecks. It was a labor of love. I worked harder than I have in quite some time. I purchased the 7′ X 12′ trailer that I pulled behind my van and donated the use of the vehicle and trailer to the cause.

I quickly became a leader and was put in charge of getting the base camp moved everyday. I’d plot the route and lead the caravan making sure that all the vehicles got to the next destination safely and without getting lost. My responsibilities quickly escalated as I was brought onto the elders counsel. My opinions were sought along with others of age and experience. I taught and directed some of the younger people in the ways of cooperation and coping skills for the challenges that we had seen and prepared them for those yet to come.

At Bakersfield, we turned towards the east and traveled into Arizona. I started to cough and lost my voice. After a week of this misery, I took a day and went back 45 miles to Kingman and went to the doctor. Since I’m a disabled veteran, I went to a VA clinic. But the VA clinic in Kingman wouldn’t help me. They referred me to the hospital emergency room where i was diagnosed with bronchitis. I was given an inhaler and antibiotics. I felt better quickly, but in a few days, I was coughing again and developed a fever. My body went weak and I couldn’t move out of the motel room bed. Leader Dennis Banks insisted I go to a motel for a night and get into a warm bed instead of sleeping in my van. The next morning, he took me to the VA hospital in Prescott, AZ. there, I was treated with oxygen, a breathing treatment and given fluids for dehydration.

My brother lives close to Prescott and i called him and asked him if I could stay there a few days to recover. After four days there, I felt it best to return home. This strain of bronchitis wasn’t going to leave my body quickly. Now, two weeks since going to the VA hospital, I am still coughing and still using the Albuterol inhaler.

So, despite my having to leave the walk for now, I am in support of it. The call for unity and the answer to that call by the people was astounding. people from all over the world. Poland, Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan and the USA. Monks, Spiritual leaders and Elders. Young as 12, old as 76. People in a pack, living a life of peace.

I have more stories and I’ll tell them one by one over the next few weeks. Highlights of a great experience as we were hosted by a Sikh Temple, The United Farm Workers, A Methodist Church and the Havasupai people at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It’s good to be home, but I miss the Walk. I’ll be following along on the web sites. here are two sites where you can read a few stories and see some pictures from the walk as it continues across America to deliver a message, a manifesto that might harbor change for the better.

Here are a couple of web sites with stories and pictures:

http://longestwalk.org

http://nikontheroad.blogspot.com

And here is a great page of pictures of some of my new friends:

http://www.longestwalk.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=471&Itemid=126

I invite your questions and comments. Consider being in Washington DC on July 11th when the Walk arrives there after the 4500 mile journey. I’ll be there.

Peace to All.

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